Egypt’s Anti-israel Blockade Cited to Halt Talks on Suez

The Egyptian Government’s “persistent denial of free passage through the Suez Canal to cargoes destined for Israel” was one of the reasons advanced by the 40 Conservative MP’s in a motion presented yesterday in Commons demanding that Britain break off negotiations with Egypt to turn the Canal area over to the Egyptians.

The protest motion is expected to come up tomorrow during the foreign policy debate which will be opened by Prime Minister Churchill reporting on the Bermuda conference with President Eisenhower and Premier Laniel. It is unlikely that the notion will come to a vote because the 36 insurgent Conservatives have indicated no desire to topple the Churchill government, which could be accomplished by such a vote.

It is assumed here that the points raised in the motion were previously discussed by the motion’s sponsors with government leaders and that the former were given no assurances that the issues they raised will be discussed with the Egyptian negotiators. This means, it was pointed out, that the British Government will not discuss with Egypt guarantees of free passage through the Canal of ships en route to or from Israeli ports.